Jeremy Butterfield (the former Editor-in-Chief for Collins Dictionaries) once explained that nursey rhymes teach the basics of English to small children.
We can define a ‘nursery rhyme’ as ‘a simple or traditional poem or song for small children.’
Butterfield says they teach young children about rhyme, word order, vocabulary, verbal reduplication, alliteration (a series of words that start with the same sound) and assonance (in which there is a resemblance between word sounds without rhyme).
All of which is pretty straight forward (and very good for little kids).
But then Jeremy adds that nursery rhymes also teach the ‘Unwritten Immutable Law of Ablaut Reduplication’—and that is something that needs a bit of explanation.
‘Ablaut’ is a word coined by Jacob Grimm.
We know him (and his brother Wilhelm), as The Brothers Grimm—the source of many traditional fairy tales.
But the Grimms were also pioneering language researchers, and Jacob coined ‘ablaut’ to name the way vowel sounds change in some words—for instance in irregular verbs such as ‘sing, sang, sung’ or ‘swim, swam, swum.’
And here is his ‘Unwritten Immutable Law of Ablaut Reduplication’—which says that in such words the vowels will always change in this order—i,a,o: ‘In other words’ (Jeremy Butterfield explains) ‘a short I sound can be followed by an A or an O, but it absolutely has to be in that order.
Hence 'mishmash' not 'mashmish' and shilly-shally', not 'shally-shilly.'
At the same time, you get 'flip-flop' and 'hip-hop' , not 'flop-flip' and 'hop-hip.'
That also explains why the nursery rhyme runs Hickory Dickory Dock and not Hockory Dockory Dick.
And if you have all three sounds, they absolutely must go in the order I then A then O.
Why does it run in this order?
Jacob Grimm didn’t really explain why, just that this order is a linguistic fixture in Germanic languages (such as English).
And the only thing to add is that Jeremy Butterfield can explain language so that even those of us without his vast learning can understand!
Bing, bang, bong!
The latest issue of The Spectator Australia is in newsagents now -- with a caricature of the late, great Rod Liddle on the front cover, and my 'Language' column in the back (and, as always lots of great reading in between!)
TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCROLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
